An exotic disease threatens hundreds of native species
If you’ve ever wandered the woods, you’ve probably seen one. That splash of color in the water, the shadow darting under a decaying log as you approach.
The U.S. has more species of salamanders than any other place in the world. They come in species large and small, brightly colored or well-camouflaged, frilled, spotted, and every other variation you can think of, and the entire menagerie is right here in our own back yards and woods. Sadly, many species are already threatened or endangered as their habitats become smaller and more developed and polluted by human activity. And now, these animals may be facing what experts are calling an “amphibian apocalypse.”
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Salamanders are the next in line for what seems to be a wave of diseases attacking not just single species, but dozens or hundreds of related species at a time. First was the chytrid disease, threatening to wipe out frogs and other amphibians in the U.S. and around the world. Then it was white nose syndrome, which is decimating bat species across the continent. The latest enemy is another chytrid fungus – this one called Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans or Bsal for short. Like its frog-attacking counterpart, Bsal starts as a skin infection, rapidly becoming more serious, and nearly always lethal.
First found in Asia, when the disease reached salamander populations in Europe, it had a mortality rate of 96%. Apocalypse no longer seems like an exaggeration, does it?
Right now, this menace is currently held at bay (we think) by plain geography. In Asia, the native salamanders have a natural resistance to the disease. But being exotic and appealing to pet owners, those salamanders are shipped and traded around the world. You may have even seen some in your local pet store – species like Chinese fire-bellied newts, for example. More than 200,000 exotic salamanders cross our borders every year.
Here’s the truly frightening part: We don’t know if any of the salamanders coming into the U.S. right now are infected with Bsal. In fact, they aren’t even checked for it! Right now, there is no law or rule requiring salamanders coming into the U.S. to be tested or quarantined to ensure they cannot spread the devastating disease to our native salamanders.
Last October, a study came out that showed the disease could reach the U.S. fairly easily if no action was taken to prevent it. Bsal has already reached Europe, devastating the native newts and salamanders in the Netherlands and Belgium, with recent outbreaks in Germany and the UK. No one wants to see the same thing in the U.S. But despite an outcry from scientists and other conservation experts, despite bills being introduced in Congress to make disease screenings mandatory for imported salamanders … the federal government seemed to find no urgent reason to take action.
The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has the power to keep this disease out of the U.S. Under a law called the Lacey Act, they can issue regulations that block the import of any non-native plant or animal proven to be harmful to native species. For months, experts from across the country have pleaded with the agency to take action while there is still time. Finally, officials acknowledged the problem and pledged to work on new regulations. Yet in the meantime, the trade in exotic salamanders continues. The longer we wait to put a stop to the immediate threat, the closer we come to allowing this disease to take root in the U.S. and put every one of our 190 native salamander species in deadly danger.
We still have a real chance to avert catastrophe altogether – if we act NOW. Here’s what you can do:
WRITE to FWS and demand that they take an emergency interim step and stop all imports of salamanders until permanent rules are in place to protect our native species.
SHARE this information with friends and family. The more people who know about this issue and speak up, the more likely that FWS will take action to save native salamanders before it’s too late.
If you’re planning to buy a pet salamander, make sure it isn’t from Asia or Europe so you aren’t putting any others at risk. And if you already have a pet salamander, especially an exotic one, here are a few precautions you can take.
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